Photograph by Carrie Jensen
Grilled to Perfection: Greg Luke works at the grill of Jersey's Cheesesteaks, a new restaurant on Lincoln Avenue that features traditional food from Philadelphia.
Jersey's brings a taste of Philly to Lincoln Avenue
By Jim Aquino
Since 1979, Jersey's Cheesesteaks has brought Philadelphia's trademark cheesesteaks and Tastykake snack cakes to cheesesteak-and-Tastykake-deprived Campbell. Now, thanks to the cheesesteak shop/sports bar, equally deprived Willow Glen will no longer be left out like the rest of the South Bay.
"We sold our first sandwich at 11:01 a.m. on the first of November," says Jersey's owner Carl Miller, who opened the second Jersey's at the location previously occupied by the now-defunct White Dove Cafe in the Garden Theater on Lincoln Avenue.
"It's a huge undertaking to open a business," Miller says. "The last time I did it was 22 years ago, so I kind of forgot half the stuff. I remembered real quick, I'll tell ya."
Twenty-two years ago, Miller, who was then a member of the San Jose Seahawks Rugby Club, co-founded Jersey's with business partners Jack Patten and Jim DeVitto because his team needed a place for a party. Miller found a 3,200-square-foot property in Campbell that was perfect. After some initial reluctance from the property owner, ("The guy didn't want to let us have a party there because we were a rugby team," Miller says), Miller was able to persuade him to sell it to him.
"I decided cheesesteaks should be our signature sandwich there, and it took a little while to get going, that's for sure," Miller says. "But I had some partners with me, and we all worked hard at it, and it took off after a little while. And it's still there after 22 years."
Born in Philly and raised in Woodbury, N.J., Miller is a huge fan of the NFL Philadelphia Eagles, so Eagles memorabilia adorns the walls at Jersey's, which Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie has declared "the official West Coast home of the Eagles."
Philly sports fans are known for being so tough that sometimes they'll even boo their own city's teams at games. Even though Jersey's is essentially a place of Eagle worship, Miller is surprisingly not so hostile and says 'Niners and Raiders fans are welcome too.
For years, Miller had wanted to open a second location and found an ideal spot on Lincoln Avenue, after the White Dove Cafe closed up shop in July.
Miller says people on the street have told him they've been waiting for a restaurant like his to come to Willow Glen.
"The cheesesteaks, hoagies, soft pretzels and Tastykakes are definitely bringing people in--mostly West Coast people, too--and we allow West Coast people in here. We just don't want people from back home because they're kind of obnoxious, which is why we live out here," Miller jokes.
Jersey's is attracting Sharks fans from the nearby Compaq Center as well. Many of them come with their families and buy cheesesteaks and hoagies to take with them to games.
"I really feel God has blessed me in finding this place and meeting all the new people. It's like a whole new world has opened up to me. It's really cool," Miller says.
In this new world of downtown Willow Glen, there are some who are in need of a crash course in Philly cuisine.
"Believe it or not, some people are still coming in not knowing what a cheesesteak is," Miller says. "That's why I'm in business: to get the newcomer in and get them addicted to them and get them to keep coming back."
Jersey's Cheesesteaks, 1167 Lincoln Ave., is open Monday-Saturday 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m.-9 p.m. For more information, call 408.287.4566.
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
